20 Engineering Leaders in Sydney Worth Knowing Today

Last updated: August 2026

Sydney’s engineering leadership community stretches across universities, professional bodies, consultancies, public agencies, water, sustainability and applied research. It is a city where technical decisions show up in transport, buildings, digital systems, education and the services people rely on.

This list is a practical starting point for anyone who wants to understand that landscape. It includes leaders based in Sydney and people whose Sydney roles reach across Australia or New South Wales. The aim is not to rank them, but to make the people and the work easier to find.

For emerging engineers, the list offers fields to explore. For executives, it offers a map of the technical leadership around them. For anyone hiring, partnering or learning, it gives a clearer place to begin.

Why engineering leadership in Sydney matters

Engineering decisions often remain invisible until they work badly. A transport system, water network, building, digital service or energy project may look simple to the public, but each depends on thousands of technical choices and the leadership that holds those choices together.

Sydney is also dealing with questions that do not fit neatly inside one discipline. Growth, resilience, decarbonisation, safety, automation and workforce diversity all require engineering leaders to work across boundaries. That is why it is useful to notice the people connecting evidence, teams, communities and delivery.

1. Hesham El Gamal

Dean of Engineering, University of Sydney

The University of Sydney places Hesham El Gamal in the faculty leadership team as Dean of Engineering. The same profile describes his background in information theory, 16 US patents, a co-founded start-up and work that influenced wireless standards. Role source

That combination is a useful reminder that engineering leadership is not only about technical depth. It is also about moving between research, education, industry and the public value that technical choices can create.

2. Abbas Jamalipour

Professor of Telecommunications Engineering, University of Sydney

Abbas Jamalipour is Professor of Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Sydney, where the electrical and computer engineering school lists him as the telecommunications stream coordinator. His work connects wireless communications, mobile networking and the systems that allow people and organisations to stay connected. Role source

His record of books, papers and patents gives the profile a clear engineering story: strong specialist knowledge becomes most useful when it helps a wider system work better. That is a valuable lens for anyone thinking about technical leadership in a connected city.

3. Julien Epps

Dean of Engineering, UNSW Sydney

Julien Epps is Dean of Engineering at UNSW Sydney. The faculty leadership page places him at the centre of a large engineering ecosystem that spans research, education, industry engagement and the future workforce. Role source

His work across speech, language and human-centred technology adds an important dimension to the Sydney conversation. Engineering leadership has to account for how people experience technology, not only whether a system works in theory.

4. Vinayak Dixit

Associate Vice President Global Research and Innovation and Professor of Transport Engineering, UNSW Sydney

Vinayak Dixit combines two roles at UNSW: Associate Vice President Global Research and Innovation and Professor of Transport Engineering. His research profile covers connected and automated vehicles, electric vehicles and quantum technologies in transport, alongside partnerships with major global industries. Role source

Transport is where technical decisions meet daily life at scale. Dixit is a useful person to know for anyone trying to understand how research, industry collaboration and public mobility can be brought into the same engineering conversation.

5. Peta Wyeth

Dean of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney

Peta Wyeth is UTS Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. UTS describes her as a computer science researcher in human-computer interaction, with work drawing on interaction design, computer science, psychology and sociology. Role source

Her leadership is relevant because it puts people and systems together. The engineering decisions behind educational and entertainment technology are also decisions about inclusion, experience and the way a community learns to use new tools.

6. Sarah Zhang

Head of School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology Sydney

Sarah Zhang is Professor and Head of School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at UTS. Her profile records the move into the role in March 2025, after university and school leadership positions that included founding co-direction of a centre for advanced manufacturing technology. Role source

That path links academic leadership with the practical question of how Australia builds capability. Advanced manufacturing needs research, people, industry relationships and the patience to develop useful systems over time.

7. Noushin Nasiri

Professor and Head of the NanoTech Laboratory, Macquarie University

Noushin Nasiri is a Professor at Macquarie University and Head of the NanoTech Laboratory in the School of Engineering. Her research focuses on nanostructured materials, miniaturised sensors and wearable electronics for personalised and preventive medicine. Role source

Her profile also records the 2025 Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology. That work shows how engineering leadership can connect very small materials and sensors with large human questions about health, prevention and access.

8. Romilly Madew

Chief Executive Officer, Engineers Australia

Romilly Madew is the Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Australia. The organisation says she is leading work to build a strong, skilled and diverse engineering workforce while representing the profession in conversations about infrastructure, energy transition and digital change. Role source

Her role matters to Sydney engineering because the profession needs more than excellent technical work. It also needs public leadership that helps engineers contribute to the decisions shaping cities, regions and the national workforce.

9. Katherine Richards

Chief Engineer, Engineers Australia

Katherine Richards is Engineers Australia’s Chief Engineer. Before joining the organisation, she served for 36 years in the Royal Australian Navy, including as Head Navy Engineering and Defence Seaworthiness Regulator. Role source

That background brings a strong focus on safety, standards and responsibility. Engineering leaders working on complex systems can learn from the discipline of making technical decisions clear enough to support public trust.

10. Louise Adams

Chief Executive Officer, Aurecon

Louise Adams is Aurecon’s Chief Executive Officer and a Chartered Civil Engineer. Her career brings together major engineering projects, advisory work and the leadership of a large professional services organisation. Role source

As the first woman to serve as Aurecon CEO, her path also shows why leadership pipelines matter. The future of engineering depends on making senior technical and commercial roles visible to a wider range of people.

11. Scott Powell

Chief Operating Officer, Aurecon

Scott Powell is Aurecon’s Chief Operating Officer. His background includes civil engineering at UNSW and more than two decades across major projects, programme governance and risk. Role source

Operations leadership is where technical intent meets the daily mechanics of delivery. It requires the ability to connect people, risk, governance and project decisions without losing sight of the work itself.

12. Greg Kane

President and Managing Director Australia, WSP

Greg Kane is President and Managing Director Australia at WSP. He began his career as a structural engineer and moved through senior leadership to become WSP Australia CEO in 2024. Role source

That progression makes him relevant to anyone watching the path from technical practice to organisational leadership. The challenge is to keep engineering judgement close to the decisions that shape a large business.

13. Sam McWilliam

Managing Director Transport, WSP

Sam McWilliam is WSP’s Managing Director Transport in Australia. His career is centred on rail and major infrastructure delivery, giving him a direct connection to the transport systems that shape how Sydney moves and grows. Role source

Transport leadership is a long game. It involves safety, communities, planning, engineering interfaces and delivery discipline, all while keeping a clear view of the people who will rely on the finished system.

14. Stefan Sadokierski

Principal and APAC Data Centres and Technology Leader, Arup

Stefan Sadokierski is a Principal at Arup in Sydney and the firm’s APAC Data Centres and Technology Leader. Arup describes his work across data centres, technology infrastructure, decarbonisation and energy transition in the Asia Pacific region. Role source

His profile makes the connection between digital growth and the built environment visible. Data centres may be technology businesses, but their success also depends on mechanical systems, energy, climate thinking and responsible design.

15. Tom Gellibrand

Chief Executive, Infrastructure NSW

Tom Gellibrand is Chief Executive of Infrastructure NSW. The NSW Government profile records his appointment in October 2023 and his earlier leadership of Projects NSW, including work on major sporting, cultural and infrastructure delivery. Role source

His role sits where planning, public value and delivery meet. That makes him relevant to anyone trying to understand how engineering advice becomes the infrastructure priorities a city and state choose to pursue.

16. Glenn Fernandes

Director Engineering, NSW Public Works

Glenn Fernandes is Director Engineering at NSW Public Works. The organisation’s management page places him within the engineering, advisory and planning leadership group responsible for work across public infrastructure. Role source

Public works leadership is often measured in the reliability of systems that people do not think about until they fail. That quiet responsibility deserves a place in any honest picture of engineering leadership in Sydney and NSW.

17. Sal Haider

Managing Director, LHS Engineering

Sal Haider is Managing Director of LHS Engineering and a Chartered Engineer. LHS describes his experience across multidisciplinary systems integration, brownfield infrastructure, rail, energy and other complex operational environments. Role source

His work is a reminder that engineering leadership is often about interfaces. Safety, construction, utilities, operators, contractors and public agencies all need to make decisions that fit together when an asset must keep working.

18. Davina Rooney

Chief Executive Officer, Green Building Council of Australia

Davina Rooney is Chief Executive Officer of the Green Building Council of Australia. GBCA continues to place her at the centre of national work on sustainable buildings, and in 2026 she spoke about the carbon and waste impact of interior fitouts. Role source

That focus widens the engineering conversation beyond construction. Buildings are also long-term decisions about energy, materials, reuse, health and the communities that occupy them.

19. Darren Cleary

Managing Director, Sydney Water

Darren Cleary is Managing Director of Sydney Water, having joined the organisation in November 2025. His earlier role as Managing Director of Hunter Water included work on water security and the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan. Role source

Water leadership makes engineering’s public purpose especially clear. The work combines infrastructure, environmental responsibility, regulation and the everyday expectation that a vital service will be safe and dependable.

20. Hugh Durrant-Whyte

NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, NSW Government

Hugh Durrant-Whyte is the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer. The NSW Government says he consults with academia, industry and government so scientific knowledge and research can be adapted and used for the people, environment, industry and economy of NSW. Role source

That is a distinctly connective form of engineering leadership. It asks technical experts to help public decision-makers understand what is possible, what is risky and what should happen next.

What these leaders show us about engineering

The strongest engineering leadership is connective. It joins a technical standard to a human need, a research idea to a usable system, or a major project to the people who will live with its consequences. The best technical conversations are often translation work as much as specialist work.

The other pattern is responsibility over spectacle. The work described across this list touches safety, infrastructure, education, sustainability, public trust and the future workforce. Those responsibilities reward leaders who can make trade-offs visible and help people stay aligned when the work becomes difficult.

How to use this list

If you are exploring the sector, choose two names from different parts of the list and compare the decisions their roles require. If you lead an engineering team, ask which technical choice is currently hardest to explain and who needs to own the next step. A small, clear conversation will usually teach you more than a general statement about innovation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this list for?

It is for engineers, students, executives, educators, project teams, event organisers and anyone trying to understand the people shaping engineering work in Sydney and the wider NSW context.

Does the list cover one engineering discipline?

No. It covers academic, transport, telecommunications, environmental, structural, consulting, public works, water, sustainability and professional leadership.

Are the names presented in a particular order?

No. They are presented as a navigable directory, with no claim that one person is more important than another.

How should I use the list for networking or research?

Start with the role and organisation that best matches your question. Then read the person’s current public page and look for the decision, project or field that connects with your own work.

Conclusion

Sydney engineering leadership is not concentrated in one kind of organisation. It is spread across universities, firms, government, public services and professional communities. That is part of the city’s strength, but it can also make the landscape hard to read from the outside.

The people here offer a useful first map. They show the range of technical work being led in Sydney and the value of leaders who can make difficult subjects clearer, keep people connected and turn expertise into practical progress.

For a leadership team, the useful question is not only who is doing impressive technical work. It is also whether the team can explain its choices, make ownership visible and keep the work connected to the people it serves.

Related Reading

For more practical leadership work, read the Working Genius FAQ, the strategy and leadership consultant guide, or the team offsite facilitation page on Consult Clarity.

A practical next step

If your engineering or infrastructure team needs clearer choices and stronger alignment, email jonno@consultclarity.org with the decision, tension or leadership challenge you are trying to address.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and the author of Step Up or Step Out. He works with schools, organisations and leadership teams around the world. To enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.